The Boy Who Barely Said a Word (Original)
by CloudyLightning
Summary: AU! Robin was never one to talk much. Well, that was until he met a blue haired idiot. (The non-expanded version)


Yo! I already have a story posted of this, but I lost chapter 6 of "The Boy Who Barely Said a Word". I kind of lost motivation to actually finish it because of that, so I decided that I might as well post the original version of the story.

Just to note, this is literally my ENG 200 paper that had been edited just a bit. I got a freaking 105% on this - gods, did that grade save me.

* * *

 **The Boy Who Barely Said A Word**

Robin Medeus was never one to talk much. He was so quiet that even his own twin sister couldn't remember the sound of his voice if a person asked her. At first glance, anyone would've thought that there was something off about him. In fact, he was always constantly seen with a book opened in his hand and the look of complete indifference on his childish face.

His silver, almost white hair was unkempt and a bit long, though it never passed his shoulders. His vibrant, brown eyes were hard to catch since they were constantly hidden from the glare of his thin, rectangular framed glasses. Heck, anyone would be considered lucky if Robin bothered to glance up at them. He always wore a dark purple hoodie that was two sizes too big for him over a t-shirt of any pale or dull color he picked to wear and a pair of jeans with a set of sneakers. In all honesty, Robin was never seen without his hoodie, not even during the burning days of summer.

If anything, Robin was considered as the creepy kid in his school. Well, as creepy as he could possibly be with his silence. He was always on the top of his class academically, never missed a single assignment, but he was barely in the classroom to begin with. It was almost as if he was never there in the first place. Almost half the student body believed that he was a ghost or a school myth. Some students gave up on prompting him to talk or attend class. After all, he did the work and passed anyway. So, why even bother?

Yet, he wasn't a ghost. He wasn't the timeliest person on the earth, nor the smartest person in class. He was just Robin; a kid who wanted nothing more but to keep his silence with reason.

Well, that was until he met a blue haired idiot.

._._._._.

Robin heaved a long, heavy sigh as he practically collapsed on the soft, green grass under the shade of a cherry blossom tree in the back of the school building. His ever so present book laid haphazardly by his thin, pale hands. He was already exhausted and a fourth of the school day hadn't even passed yet. His entire morning was filled with his sister, Ravina, babbling on and on about the upcoming events that was scheduled to happen at their school.

The Cultural Festival.

He didn't give a single damn about that, even though he was assigned as one of the event planners. Heck, he never signed up for any of that crap and his sister had the gall to throw him in the mix. She definitely knew that he would never have done so in the first place. With her position as school president, he didn't have much of a choice anymore.

"It'll be all right," she said, "just three weeks of planning with fun people and that's it. I promise."

Heh, yeah, three weeks of interacting with "fun people".

As _if_.

He laid there for a moment, contemplating whether or not he should just take a nap before he was forced to put to work. Yet, with one glance at his book, he decided to get back up. He grabbed his book and leaned against the trunk of the tree and opened it to a dog-eared page to settle into his routine; read all day and ignore the world.

The white haired teen had done the same thing since he entered middle school. He always found a quiet place to read that barely had people and stayed there until it was time to go home. Since he shared classes with his twin, Ravina always told him what they did in class and gave him the homework and assignments. The daily routine didn't break when they entered high school. It was like Ravina knew that there was nothing she could do.

…Then again, that was probably why she threw him into the planning committee in the first place.

With that horrid thought in his head, Robin turned to his book and lost himself in the world of fantasy.

._._._._._.

The bell rang a few minutes ago and forced Robin to close his beloved book as he headed to the Student Council Room. His feet literally dragged themselves all the way there as he squeezed past the flood of students on their way home. He wished that he could go home like them, but he wasn't about to completely brush Ravina off like a fool. He did love his sister to a certain degree.

When he got to the student council room, he was certainly not the first one there. It was already crowded with students from other classes and years and they all chattered away with excitement. He took a seat at the farthest back corner and dropped open his book. His gaze focused on the words while he did his best to ignore the stares of confusion and shock.

"Whoa! Isn't that…. that other Medeus kid?" asked a student in front of him

"He's here?" said another.

"It's the Ghost!"

"What? I thought it was a joke."

"Hold on…. Who's that guy?"

With the sudden whispers around him, Robin began to wonder why he even bothered to come here. Then again, he was surprised that a few people even recognized him. Yet, as his sister entered the room with a bright smile and seemingly endless enthusiasm, he sucked up his anxiety and stayed where he was.

"Hey, everyone! Thanks for taking the time to make it here to today! With that said, let's get down to business…" she began, but Robin turned most of his attention to his book. Ravina quickly talked about the key points of the next few days; the due dates, the expectations, funding, and the classroom themes. She was knowledgeable of the time and made it easy for everyone to follow along. Within ten minutes, she had the volunteers split up into their groups and made sure that every student got to know each other.

Robin didn't dare to move from his place as he kept his eyes trained on his book and eavesdropped. He didn't have to wait long for Ravina to appear in front of him and place her pale hand on the page. He frowned and finally lifted his eyes to meet his sister's. If anyone were to look at the two, they were practically mirror images; a thin physique, soft white hair, and chocolate eyes. The only difference was the hair length and eye sight.

"Hey, Robin! Glad you made it!" Ravina said with a bright smile. Robin nearly glared at her but quickly schooled his face with a passive stare as she continued. "I hope you don't mind, but I'm teaming you up with someone from our class. You all right with that?"

Robin finally turned his gaze away from his sister and had to restrain himself from snapping his book closed. There, standing right next to his sister, was the most popular, blue-haired kid in school.

Chrom Lowell.

The teen was the best in absolutely every sport that the school had. Not only was he athletic, he was one of the top students in their whole junior year. His hair was a royal blue and styled neatly on his head with a matching eye color to boot. Chrom had a grin on his face and stood with the confidence Robin lacked as he gave him a quick wave.

"Hey! Nice to actually meet you for once," he greeted. For some odd reason, Robin felt a bit offended by that statement and wanted to wipe that smile of his face. "I'm Chrom Lowell."

Robin stared at the offered hand in front of him. He didn't bother to shake it and blatantly ignored it as he looked to his sister. There was an awkward silence as Ravina and Chrom shared a look of uneasiness.

"Uhm, right," Chrom said, quickly dropping his hand and turning to Ravina. "Don't worry, Ravina. I got this."

Robin blinked and gave Chrom a slightly raised eyebrow. Well, those were pretty bold words coming from him.

Ravina looked a little skeptical as she tossed a quick glance at Robin, but nodded anyway, "All right. I'm depending on you both now! You're the organizers, so if you have anything for me, let me know asap!"

The two boys watched as Ravina hurried off to another group nearby. Robin wanted to hurry after her, tug her sleeve and shake his head vigorously to express his discontent. How in the world did his sister expect him to actually deal with a person who talked so much?

He discreetly chewed on the back of his bottom lip as Chrom cleared his throat.

"So, ah…." he trailed off as Robin stared at him intently. Robin knew for a fact that his stare unnerved people, so maybe Chrom wouldn't want to work with him if he just— "…I need your number. Gotta establish a way of communication, right?"

Robin watched as Chrom pulled out his smartphone and did something with it. For a moment, Chrom focused on the screen and tapped a few times before looking up at Robin with an easy-going smile. Robin blinked, not understanding why Chrom didn't hand over his phone to type in his number (not that he was actually going to), until the boring ringtone of his own phone suddenly blared.

Shocked, Robin tore his eyes away from Chrom and shoved his hand in his jean's pocket. He yanked his phone out and started at the screen displaying a number he didn't have. He quickly hit the end button and jerked his head up at Chrom. The blue haired teen grinned as he showed Robin his screen.

Robin stared at his ow name in utter shock. Who—

"Sorry to be rude, but your sister figured that you wouldn't really give me your number. So, Ravina was nice enough to give it to me. I hope you don't mind," Chrom said as he hung up the call. He took Robin's phone out of his hand and made a few taps on the screen, "Wow, you rarely have any numbers on here, don't you?"

Robin moved to grab his phone back, but Chrom quickly took a step out of range. "Don't worry! I'm just adding something really important."

Robin only glared at him as he got his phone back a half a minute later.

"There," Chrom said, giving a pat on Robin's shoulder, "Now you have my number. Want to meet up tomorrow to come up with a few activities? I'll let you pick the place."

Robin clenched his phone tightly in his hand as he struggled to keep himself from running out of the room in frustration. He quickly typed something on his phone before stuffing it right in his pocket. He didn't bother to spare Chrom a glance as he slipped past him and walked away at a brisk pace.

"Hey! Wait Where are you—" Robin never heard the end that sentence as he left the room without a sound or acknowledgement to anyone.

Oh, he was so going to kill his sister later…

…At least Chrom was nice enough to apologize.

._._._._._.

The very next day found Robin engrossed in his book again as he sat in the branches of a tree near the school courtyard. No one blinked twice about him in the tree, and nor did the security or the staff attempt to get him down. They only stopped and gave quick words of caution to him from below.

He honestly didn't want to deal with Chrom or anyone today, but he didn't have much of a choice. Considering the rant his sister gave him about what others had planned, his mood wasn't the best either. To put it bluntly, he was irritated. Fortunately, school was in session, so he had time for himself before he would have to deal with anyone.

He spent the entire class hours in the tree, oblivious to the world around him until the bell suddenly rang for lunch. Robin didn't dare to move, already knowing that his classmate or Ravina would be looking for him soon—

"Robin?" came a voice below him. Robin nearly grunted in irritation as he gritted his teeth and silently cursed in his head. "What are you doing in the tree?"

He finally looked down to see Chrom's look of confusion directed at him. Robin eyed the clipboard in his classmate's hand, the school building itself, then back to Chrom. He silently gave him a long stare. Chrom shifted on his feet, uncomfortable under Robin's stare.

"Uhm, are you okay up there?" he finally asked. Robin didn't answer, his expression still bored as usual. "Ah… are you gonna come down here?"

No answer.

"…Uhm, right," Chrom said after a moment. He got the message that Robin didn't plan to get down anytime soon. He placed a hand on his hip and frowned a little, "Well, anyway—"

Robin didn't even bother to listen to Chrom questions about scheduling for the little events and everything else along those lines. He dog-eared a page and casually flipped to the last page. He allowed a small folded sheet of paper to fall into his waiting hand. He looked down at Chrom, who still ranted his mouth away, and dropped the paper directly on Chrom's head. The small thump was enough to make Chrom stumble over a word and stop mid-rant.

"Hey! What was that for?" he asked as he kind of glared at Robin.

Robin didn't bother to give him a glance as he flipped to another page and dropped a little sticky note. He didn't wait for Chrom to grab the note in mid-air and returned to his book with hints of eagerness in his hands. He was only three words in when Chrom's voice came again.

"What?! You—you—!"

He finally glanced down to catch Chrom's jaw slacken and his eyes widen in amazement.

"You did this?!" Chrom practically shouted as he stared at the unfolded paper in his hands, "This is…. I can't believe you did this much in less than a day!"

Robin rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to his book. He wasn't a slacker that was sure. Chrom quickly clipped the paper on his clipboard.

"Thanks for this, Robin! I'll give it to Ravina and I'll discuss the timetable with everyone," Chrom assured before he took off the way he (probably) came from, not that Robin really cared.

He sighed as he leaned back against the trunk and shifted into a comfortable position to relax. At least he was done with one thing… For now.

._._._._._.

The peace that Robin found earlier that day was instantly gone the moment he got home. His phone pinged every five minutes and wouldn't stop. That was putting it lightly. He got irritated to the point where he turned off the volume and the vibration function just to find some form of quiet. There was no way he would interact with a bunch of people he didn't know (or _want_ to know for that matter) all evening. Of course, he read all the messages about an hour or so later when he finished with the assignments Ravina gave him the other day.

To be clear, he was well aware of the importance of the preparations for the Cultural Festival. He was just unwilling to face the other students. After all, Robin did love his self-isolation. Sad, but true.

Yet, when his sister got home, he was bombarded with a "quick" review of what happened during a meeting they apparently had at school. Even though he loathed to help, he forced himself to leave his beloved book closed and listened to Ravina well into the night. He gave little suggestions by writing a few notes in Ravina's notebook and scratched out the things that were completely pointless or absurd in his opinion.

"Hey, Robin," Ravina began as she looked up from her revised notes, "do you hate Chrom that much?"

Robin rolled his eyes and gave her a deadpanned side look.

"I'll… take that as a no," Ravina said after a moment. She sighed and placed an unfolded sheet of paper. Robin recognized it in an instant. It was definitely the same sheet of paper he dropped on Chrom earlier that day. He cracked a barely noticeable smirk as he grabbed his book and flipped it open. Ravina sighed, "Look, I get that you don't like people in general, but seriously, not everyone understands how to read this like me and Chrom."

Robin blinked. Since when did Chrom— oh. OH.

He looked at his sister with wide, shocked eyes. Usually, he would write in a coded style that no one could make any heads or tails (unless it was a school assignment). Ravina knew how to read it with practiced ease, so for someone outside of the two to be able to read it…

"Before you jump to conclusions, Chrom had to ask for a bit of help from me to read the entire thing," Ravina stated, closing her notebook with a slight smile. She got up from her seat at the dining table and gathered the papers that were scattered everywhere, "It feels nice to finally have someone able to read it other than me."

She gave Robin a warm smile, "Don't stay up too late, all right? Good night, Robin."

Robin could only watch in shock as she walked up the stairs to her room. He was left alone in the dining room. After a moment, he slumped back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling above him. It completely baffled him on how Chrom of all people was able to read his coded writing. Heck, when he wrote the entire thing, he forgot to write normally until he was almost done. He would've redone it, but he got lazy and forgot all about it when he stuck it into his book.

He groaned in frustration and ran a hand through his hair. In the still silent air, his voice cracked, "Damn it."

._._._._._.

It wasn't until a few days later did Robin find out just how much of a pain it was to be an event planner. He couldn't even walk the hallways without someone stopping him to ask a question.

It scared him. It really did.

He hated it when people started to talk to him, and he wanted run every time someone had the gall to grab his arm to catch his attention. If only he never made a vow to keep his silence, he would've yelled in anger to keep people away, maybe even threatened them to just to be alone.

He was ready to go home after Ravina practically hunted him down to attend another meeting for the committee; but a girl with lime green hair and an extremely bubbly personality just _had_ to stop him.

"Hey! Robin! I'm Nowi! I'm one of the decorators and I need your opinion!" the girl practically exclaimed. Robin didn't bother to hide a flinch at her childish voice. He stumbled to a stop as she blocked his way toward the door and effectively trapped him in the corner of the almost empty meeting room. Nowi was short and only reached to his chin (he was pretty short himself), and her face lit up with a huge grin. In her arms were something that looked suspiciously like paper chains. Robin's stomach suddenly took a dive. This girl was too damn… _bright_.

"What do you think of this!" she asked as she threw her arms out to toss the paper chains at Robin. Needless to say, Robin dropped his book and scrambled to get away from the offending colorful paper. His eyes squeezed shut and he bit his bottom lip a little too hard as he threw his hands up in defense. He let out a short, strangled cry when he hit the wall in terror.

"I made paper chains to hang on the entrance gate! It's really, really cool! Right? Right?!" Nowi asked as she hopped up and down in pure excitement. Robin forced his racing heart to slow and told himself that she really didn't mean to scare him. It took him a moment to slowly drop his arms and look at Nowi, who ranted on and on about the other designs she had in mind. He only half listened as he brushed off a paper chain from his shoulder.

"—And paper flowers—lots and lots of paper flowers! We gotta have those!" she ranted. Robin bent down and dug underneath the chains to retrieve his book and frowned when he found it. He seriously wanted to get away, but it was near impossible to get away when the girl blocked his escape route. Feeling his stress levels rise, he searched frantically for someone who would help him…

Then his eyes locked with a red-haired girl across the room. Robin instantly recognized her as the captain of the cheerleading club. He never actually spoken to the girl before, but he knew that she was really nice. Well, at least he thought she was nice.

With one quick glance at Nowi, the cheerleader came over with a small smile.

"Okay, Nowi, I think we got it," she said as she placed a hand on the shorter girl's shoulder. Nowi immediately stopped her rant and looked over to the cheerleader.

"Aw, Cordeli! I was getting to the good part!" she pouted. The cheerleader laughed a little as she dropped her hand.

"No one would be able to keep track of what you just said unless you wrote it down," she said as she placed a hand on her hip. Nowi perked up.

"Oh! Right! I forgot about doing that!" she said and turned to Robin, "I'll get you a draft of all the designs I have for everything by next week!"

Robin watched as Nowi quickly picked up the paper chains and hurried out of the room with that same bright smile. He took a moment to sigh in relief. That girl was gone just as fast as she had appeared; quick and sudden.

"You'll have to forgive Nowi. She can be quite the character, that one," the cheerleader said. Robin was quick to pick up on the oddly… polite speech she had. She held out a hand to him, "I'm Cordelia."

Robin blinked at her hand for a moment before shaking it hesitantly. He dropped his hand a second later, clutching his book against his chest.

"It's Robin, correct?" she asked, giving him a polite smile. He nodded once and she continued, "I never see you in class."

Robin gave her a narrowed look and frowned at the tone of her voice. Yet, to his surprise, she was quick to pick up his discomfort about the topic.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude," Cordelia apologized, "It's just hard to believe that a kind person like you wouldn't attend class."

Robin's eyes grew wide. Kind? Just where in the world did she get that assumption?! For the past years of his life, he wasn't very nice, or polite to anyone. He was just brutally straightforward and he knew for a fact that straightforwardness was rude. Kindness was the last thing he had.

Cordelia smiled and gave a nod, "Despite the cold look on your face, your eyes are very warm."

With that, she turned on her heel and headed out of the room. The train of thought that Robin had in his head quickly crashed and burned at her simple statement. He stood rigidly, his book threatening to slip out of his arms.

Maybe…just maybe he should avoid that girl for a while.

._._._._._.

He hated to admit it, but Robin began to get used to Chrom. It almost became a normal routine for Robin to meet up with Chrom during lunch breaks. They filled that time with one-sided discussions about the festival and other things. Well, Chrom didn't mind ranting off while Robin wrote things down or listened. Soon, Chrom became able to read Robin with the expressions he would give him. One of their classmates, Henry, called it "bird-terpreting."

They were literally friends.

Eventually, everyone got used to the sight of Robin, the creepy kid, around the school grounds. Robin never got used to the idea of other students turning to him for help though. He asked Ravina the other day and the answer he got from her scared him.

"Even though you seem unapproachable and cold, you're really nice. I mean, that is what Chrom told me," he remembered her saying.

Robin wanted to pull his hair out. What exactly did people see in him? As far as he was concerned, he was nothing but rude and cold!

He huffed in annoyance and plopped himself down on his usual spot at a sakura tree. There was a week left until the festival, but Robin was exhausted. Now, that he actually stopped to think about it, he had been busy.

He spent a few sleepless nights making sure that he was caught up in his school assignments. Chrom was determined to call him every night so that he could help him with the homework, even though Robin only communicated with various taps with his pencil and a few text messages. Robin did have Ravina to help him, but he knew that she was busy enough with her own school work and duties. Plus, Robin didn't bother to pass up the help if Chrom was that insistent.

He stayed long hours after classes to help Nowi with her designs. He even dug up the map of the entire school and made photocopied it several times just for that. It was nearly impossible to keep up with her, but Robin somehow pulled it off… barely. He almost had a bit of a panic attack when students from other classes appeared to help.

Yesterday, he made round trip around the school with Cordelia to coordinate with the various clubs and classrooms. He was honestly surprised how straightforward her focus and work ethic was. She did most of the work with communication and interpreted the silent commands Robin gave her. It almost dazzled half the student body at how well coordinated the pair were – not that Robin himself had noticed.

Robin fell back into the grass and relaxed his body for a moment. Cordelia… was a weird person. She only met him once and she was able to easily figure out what Robin wanted in a moment. Since she could do it so well, they had little to no trouble with their trip around the school. It almost terrified him.

Of course, when Ravina found out about it, she couldn't stop marveling at Cordelia's ability to understand her brother. In fact, she couldn't stop talking about how great things were looking up for him when they got home.

The sound of the late bell rang through Robin's thoughts and broke it apart. He closed his eyes, determined to sleep until the lunch bell rang.

So, what if things were looking up for him? That didn't change a damn thing.

._._._._._.

Robin mentally prepared himself for the day of the festival. He really did, but he didn't realize that time moved so quickly when he worked diligently. The day before the festival came in like a freight train riding on a _tidal wave_. Robin was driven to his last straw as he rushed around the entire school to make sure everything was set: the booths with their supply of food, the gym for the games, the auditorium for the dramas, and the classrooms with their own entertainment for the visitors – literally everything. He was damn lucky to have Chrom and Cordelia at his side.

The events were scheduled to start at nine in the morning, and Ravina practically dragged him out of the house before seven. To everyone's shock, Robin left his book at home. He never left his book at home, and it was just plain _weird_ to see him without it in his arms. Robin himself didn't seem to mind since he was too focused on surviving the entire festival. Though, he did feel a little uncomfortable without it. In fact, it didn't even register that he forgot it until the festival started. Yet, he didn't have time to worry about it.

He stayed near Ravina to avoid the flood of people outside of the school, and helped her with giving out tickets and passes at the entrance. Ravina was sure that Robin would suddenly turn tail and run away, knowing his nature, but he didn't. He stayed there with a pleasant smile on his face without a single word – despite the fact that his hands visibly shook.

Throughout the day, Robin struggled not to panic when people came up to him to ask questions, but Chrom was quick to save him and always flashed him a reassuring smile. He ended up working in the shadows with Chrom and restocked the items the students and staff around campus needed.

"Y'know, I think you and I make a great team, Robin," Chrom said as the two headed to the roof for a much needed break. Robin couldn't help but roll his eyes in slight amusement. Chrom opened the door leading to the stairway to the roof as he continued, "No, I'm serious. I mean, can you believe how well everything is going?"

Oh, he could believe. Robin knew that everyone he worked with had done their best to make this entire festival happen. Chrom willingly gave up his own time to help Robin outside of committee planning not out of obligation, but as a friend. Nowi gave her all and practically poured her soul into decorating the main attractions of the festival. Cordelia took time away from her own club to assist Robin all around the school and sacrificed her practices for him. As for Ravina…

Robin couldn't help but respect his sister at a whole new level. She was simply amazing; she balanced her duties as a school president and kept above average grades in every day class. He didn't know how she managed to last the entire month of planning and such. She had so much patience with practically everyone, even on the day of the festival. She dealt everything with surprising ease and even took last minute changes in stride.

She was everything Robin couldn't be. To him, it was truly admirable.

As per usual, Robin didn't answer verbally. Instead, he had a light smile on his face as he led the way up the stairs and out into the roof. The sounds of people chattering and the music below them were muted slightly from the cold, autumn breeze. Chrom stretched his arms high above his head and yawned, "Damn, I didn't get much sleep last night. Did you?"

Robin shook his head as he sat against the fence that lined the edges of the roof for safety. In all honesty, Robin couldn't sleep until three that morning, but he wasn't all that tired. Well, he thought so until he closed his eyes for a moment. He felt the sudden exhaustion all the way down to his bones and sleep picked at his consciousness. Chrom sighed and dropped his arms, "Think Ravina wouldn't mind if we took a nap?"

Robin shrugged his shoulders as he pulled his knees up to his chest to rest his heavy head on top of them. His head spun slightly from the rush that fueled him for the entire morning. Now that Chrom pulled him away from everything, he was completely burned out. He began to wonder how in the world he managed to last that long. He wasn't sure if Ravina would mind if they did, but he didn't want to take that risk.

"Well," Chrom began as he plopped himself next to Robin and leaned against the fence with his arms behind his head, "I don't know about you, but I'm gonna take nap. Wake me up when break's over."

With a slight shake of his head, Robin shifted on his spot to a comfortable position. If Chrom was gonna sleep, then he might as well get comfy.

Robin waited until he heard Chrom's breaths even out and affirmed that he had definitely fallen asleep. He stared at Chrom for a moment before looking away and recalled all the times the idiot stuck to him and what came with it.

A soft smile graced his face as he huffed silently. Chrom was too far gone when Robin's cracked voice whispered, "Thanks, you big, dumb idiot."


End file.
